A Twitch in Time
by MagusMaximus
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes. More so under pressure. Even the best guys make mistakes. What happens when Minato Namikaze's hand twitched during the sealing of the Kyuubi? Good or bad results? Well, that's to be seen. Co-authored by Ficmac and MagusMaximus.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Minato smiled warmly down at Kushina as she gripped his hand tightly. "Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

Kushina cursed loudly. "This is all your fault," she said. "I'm never getting pregnant again."

Minato chuckled and was about to say something when he heard a sudden muffled groan. "I'll be back soon," he told his wife and the midwives with her. Speedily, he left the room.

He frowned when he saw all the guards posted outside on the floor, dead. And they we're all ANBU. His well-honed shinobi instincts screamed at him to dodge and he did just that, not even looking back to see what prompted it.

As soon as he was certain he was safe, he looked back. A man hovered in the air just short of where he had been standing. He wore a black cloak and his face was hidden by an orange spiral mask with only one eye hole. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Minato demanded.

"I am Tobi, and as for why I'm here... Well, you'll soon find out," the masked man said.

"Tobi? What kind of name... Whatever! I'm not letting you get away," Minato said. He reached a hand into his cloak and when he whipped it out, a tri-pronged kunai was sent towards Tobi.

"That wouldn't work," Tobi said.

He didn't make an attempt to dodge. The kunai phased through him, almost as if he wasn't there.

 _'GenjutsuBunshin?'_ Minato thought _. 'No, that can't be. He talked. So why did it pass through him? It could be..."_

Minato frowned before he disappeared in a flash of yellow light. He reappeared behind Tobi, a glowing blue orb of pure energy in his hand.

He stuck his hand, complete with energy ball, into Tobi's intangible body. Not a clone, then. That meant his theory was correct.

"Space-time ninjutsu, huh? Intangibility. You transferred your body to another dimension and you can't be harmed while most of your body is there, " Minato deduced. "I've been working on something like that. From what I know, your intangibility can't last long. What's the limit? Two, five minutes?"

"You really are a genius. But what prevents me from moving?" Tobi said as he floated back from Minato.

"We're at a stalemate, then. This couldn't possibly be what you wanted. Unless you're trying to... delay me, " Minato's eyes widened and he ran back into the room.

The midwives and nurses were all dead. _'Oh no, I shouldn't have left them...'._ A second Tobi- _It had to be a clone this time. Water clone? Earth clone? Unless he was from, Kami forbid it, Konoha and it was a shadow clone-_ was standing over Kushina. He slammed a hand onto Kushina's stomach, twisted it _\- Oh, Kami, he's after the blasted fox. He's going to release it. Oh no, Kushina-_ and in a burst of red bijuu chakra, the Nine-Tailed fox in all his glory appeared once again in full view of Konoha. Well, first he had to smash out of the building, which wasn't really a problem.

Kushina started to fall as the ground gave way and the bed fell through the destroyed building. Minato flashed to her by way of a Flying Thunder God seal. He held her to his body and flashed to the Konoha Hospital. It was on the other side of the village so hopefully, she would...

"Hokage-sama, what's going on? The Kyuubi is outside... " a nurse said when he appeared but he interrupted.

"Take this woman and make sure she delivers safely. I'll take care of the Kyuubi," he said.

He'd be damned if some masked bastard and an old overpowered fox was going to ruin his son's birth. He didn't let himself dwell on the fact that Kushina was going to die as he flashed to his office. A group of ninja were waiting there, even the ANBU- _Are they fools? They're supposed to be protecting the village. Do they need my orders for something as simple as that?-_ and he growled in irritation at seeing them.

"Hokage-sama, the village is under attack-""The Kyuubi-""It's destroying the-"

"Then distract it till I get there," the Fourth said with irritation.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they chorused and left.

Minato swept the pile of experimental seals away from his desk- _Oh, that's my flight seal. And I was almost done with it-_ and took out the Forbidden Techniques Scroll. He laid it out on the desk and...

He felt a presence in the room and looked up. The masked man, Tobi, stood there, leaning against tthe wall.

"You!" Minato hissed. "I'm going to kill you,"

"No, you're not. I just came to say goodbye," the masked man said. Minato could almost hear the hatred, hidden under a thin veneer of smugness. "I hope you enjoy my little gift-" he gestured out the window to where the Kyuubi was rampaging, a group of enlarged Akimichis trying to subdue it- "or maybe, not so little. But it's the thought that counts, eh?"

Minato's fists clenched in anger. This man, with his stupid fake name, had infiltrated his village, released the Kyuubi on the village, dooming his wife to death and here he was, making jokes.

"You bastard!"

The masked man waved and ran, phasing through the wall. Minato smashed a Rasengan through the wall and chased after him.

They ran across roofs, like some crazy parkour race, and soon Minato was chasing him out of the village. He had clocked his intangibility to be around three minutes and Tobi had an assortment of injuries that Minato had given him.

Suddenly, Tobi stopped. "Well, this has been fun. I'll see you later." His body twisted in on itself and he disappeared.

He had... vanished? If he had been able to do that from the start, why had he led him on that chase? To keep him from taking care of the Kyuubi, of course. Minato scowled. He was almost out of chakra. The sealing would be a close thing.

He flashed back to the Hokage Tower and looked through the Forbidden Technique Scroll. The Shiki Fuiin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal). A dangerous technique. If everything went right he wouldn't need it. A bitter smile crossed his face. When had anything gone right that day?

He flashed outside. His ninja were attacking the Kyuubi with all they had but even that wasn't enough. It was a force of nature, after all. A being made totally out of chakra and malevolence. The death toll kept climbing.

He attempted to flash the Kyuubi out of the village but it was too big and it wouldn't fucking hold still. "Move back, everyone, "he yelled. His ninja obeyed. He went through seals and slammed a palm on the floor. A massive cloud of smoke almost equaling the Kyuubi in size appeared.

It cleared to reveal a giant toad, wearing a large coat, with a pipe in it's mouth and a giant sword. One look around and the toad's eyes narrowed.

"Summons are not meant to fight bijuu, Minato. You'll owe me big for this, "the toad said.

"I don't need you to fight it. Just hold it still, Gamabunta, "Minato answered.

Gamabunta snorted. "Easier said than done, "he said.

His cheeks briefly puffed out and he fired balls of water at the giant nine-tailed fox. "Water Style: Water Bullet."

The fox's tails slapped away the water projectiles, causing them to burst in midair. Gamabunta took the opportunity to get in close and slammed into the Kyuubi. "Now, Minato."

Minato didn't waste a minute. The drain on his chakra was massive but he telepirted himself, Gamabunta and the Kyuubi to the outskirts of the village.

He flashed himself away moments after and reappeared at the hospital, beside Kushina. Kushina's eyes were closed and her breath came in soft gasps. If she hadn't been an Uzumaki, she would have been dead- Don't think about it. She would die soon. Oh, quit it. You have a job to do- but she had gotten a tailed beast ripped forcefully out of her and delivered a baby. Kami, he loved how strong she was. He walked to the nearby crib and looked into it.

A newborn slept there. Blonde spiky hair and blue eyes like him and Kushina's facial structure. The whiskers must have been the Kyuubi's influence, though. "I'm sorry, Naruto, Kushina."

He flashed back to where he had left Gamabunta and the Kyuubi but even as he did so he felt something was wrong. Someone hitched a ride. Kushina? Dammit, she doesn't have to be here. And then he appeared. Kushina was gripping his arm.

"Let... me fight too," she said, although she looked exhausted. "For Naruto."

Minato nodded.

He surveyed the site. In the brief time he had been gone, Gamabunta and the Kyuubi had completely leveled the surrounding forest.

"Prepare the fox, I'll ready the seal."

Kushina nodded and concentrated. Chains of pure glowing chakra burst out of her stomach and sped towards the Kyuubi. They surrounded him and held him in place.

Gamabunta retreated, looking relieved and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Kushina, I can't seal the whole beast in Naruto, he's too young for that. "

"You can't mean... the Dead Demon Consuming Seal?" Kushina asked.

"It has to be."

"But... Naruto, he'll be alone. You don't have to die. Stay alive for me and for our son... "

"We'll trust the village to take care of him... And he needs to learn how to use the fox's chakra. You saw that masked man. I have a feeling he'll be back. We'll be protecting both Naruto and the village," he slammed his hands together in an handseal. "Shiki Fuiin."

The Shinigami appeared in all his glory behind him. "Let's do this."

The Shinigami's arm extended and caught hold of the Kyuubi. With his knife, he cut the Kyuubi's soul into two, Yin and Yang. Then it withdrew the Yin half into Minato's body. Minato gasped at the feeling of the foreign demon chakra in his body.

He felt his body going numb all over. He turned to Kushina. He summoned a small shrine with a bed in the middle. Then he placed Naruto on it.

He stared to go through the necessary hand signs for the Eight Trigrams Seal.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, although weakened from his separation and a bit crazy from the masked man's control, knew what was going to happen. 'Not again,' he growled inwardly. With as much strength as he could muster, he raised a paw. Then he sent a claw racing at the newborn, intending to kill him before it could happen.

Minato and Kushina dived into the way and the Kyuubi's claw pushed through the two of them. Naruto laid there, safe and unaware. Minato continued the sealing sequence, adding some of his and Kushina's chakra, and finally placed a palm on Naruto's stomach. In a last-ditch effort to stop the sealing, the Kyuubi twisted his claw in their stomachs.

The intense pain did not derail Minato from his sealing but it caused a hand to twitch an inch away from it's original space. Minato noticed but he couldn't change anything. He was out of chakra and he could feel the pull of the Shinigami on his soul.

He and Kushina said their last words to the awake and wailing baby.

-o-o-o-

Hiruzen Sarutobi was an old man and he felt every bit his age as he took Naruto away from the site of his parents' death.

He was going to have to step in as Homage again. He wondered how the Kyuubi had escaped but with Minato and Kushina dead, they would probably never know.

He entered the Hokage Office, sans a wall, and sat behind the desk. Minato's- no, his- ANBU commander came in.

"I want a complete damage report. Also, send for the council, "he requested. "The members still alive, at least. " He needed to inform them of Minato's sacrifice. Although, hmmm, he didn't have to tell them the newly made jinchuuriki was Minato's son. There was Iwa to consider, after all and he also didn't want anyone to pamper the boy. HHis status as the village's saviour would be enough for the village to fawn over him. Best not to add anything else.

He glanced at the sleeping boy. "Naruto Namikaze, you will now be known as Naruto Uzumaki."

-o-o-o-

 **Nearly eight years later**

Naruto Uzumaki was excited. He was finally entering the Ninja Academy. Soon, he'd become Hokage and then, everyone in the village would respect him. They wouldn't be able to ignore him and he'd be the best in nja in the village. But first, the Academy. He wondered what jutsu be would learn that day.

In the next hour, he sat in a chair near the front of the class. The teacher, a man named Isado Matatsu, was tall and thin. His hair was an unremarkable brown colour- maybe he could prank him by painting his hair pink- and his eyes were grey.

"The first thing you need to learn about as aspiring ninja is chakra," Isado-sensei started. "Chakra is a very important thing for ninja. It forms the basis of all ninja arts, even taijutsu which is hand-to-hand combat.

"You are going to learn how to access your chakra. The easiest method for this is meditation... "

Isado-sensei took them outside to a small courtyard with cushions on the floor. "You are going to meditate here and try to access your chakra. Remember what I told you, you should reach into your gut for it. Do not worry if you don't get it on your first try. Most students never do."

Naruto was not going to be most students. He was determined to get it on his first try. At first nothing seemed to happen and Naruto briefly wondered whether Isado-sensei had been wrong but he smothered the thought. He had found his chakra. It was strange though. There was a blue chakra and then there was another red?, no, purple chakra. Yes, purple chakra with streaks of red in it. Isado-sensei hadn't said anything about that.

Or had he? He said chakra was made up of physical and spiritual energy so maybe the blue and purple chakra were those. Which was which, though? It didn't matter. He would take the purple chakra and mix it with the blue one. Just like Isado-sensei said about physical and spiritual energy mixing. He was going to be the first to access his chakra, dattebayo. And then, the Hokage title.

-o-o-o-

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, was sitting in his office doing paperwork. He briefly thought about earlier that morning when he had enrolled Naruto into the Academy. The boy had been so happy, Hiruzen was almost guilty.

The boy had not been seen as a hero as he expected. It was the opposite. It was all he could do to keep him from being murdered or mobbed.

The boy had very few happy moments. Hiruzen blamed himself. He had gotten many chances to tell Naruto about his parents, perhaps even reveal it to the village but he had never done it. He was an old coward. But he would do the best he could to help Naruto along on his dream to become Hokage.

Suddenly, he stiffened as he felt chakra he had not felt in eight years. Demon chakra. True, it was somewhat diluted but there was no mistaking it. 'Naruto!'he thought in panic.

He dashed outside the Hokage Office with speed that could be attributed to a man half his age.

The Academy. He entered the courtyard Naruto was in and saw the boy, sitting in a maelstrom of purple and red chakra. 'Oh no.'

-o-o-o-

 **A/N: And that's my new story. Well, not really mine. The whole idea and chapter was Ficmac's. I'm just going to continue it. I'd appreciate reviews. I hope you all like it.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Naruto opened his eyes. He was standing almost knee-deep in water. Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of sewer. 'A sewer? But I was in the Academy, learning to use chakra,' he thought, confused. 'How did I get here?' The sewer was strange, too; not at all like Konoha's. Or maybe this was just a place he had never explored. Konoha was certainly big enough.

'Well, I'll just have to find my way out,' he told himself.

He began to walk. The sewer system was confusing, a maze of sorts. But he noticed all the tunnels led to one central area. Maybe he could find an exit there.

He reached the central area with little trouble. Had he thought about it, he would have realized it was almost as if he was subconsciously being pulled along.

He saw cage bars set into a wall. The inside of the cage was too dark for him to see anything.

A voice spoke. It was deep and menacing. Filled with hatred. He felt like running away and crawling somewhere to die. " **My jailer has finally found his way here,** "the beast, for it had to be a beast, said. Nothing else could describe this. " **Using chakra stolen from me, no less. If I could, I would rip you to shreds for that.** " The beast actually sounded bitter.

Naruto stood his ground, even though his legs felt like jelly during an earthquake. "W-What are you?" Never let it be said Naruto was cowardly.

" **It seems our meeting is being cut short** ," the beast, still shrouded in darkness, said. " **I would have loved to terrify you more**."

Even as the beast spoke, Naruto could feel himself gradually fading away. He left with only a vague memory of what happened.

-o-o-o-

Hiruzen paced the confines of the hospital room Naruto was currently sleeping in. He was worried about Naruto's health, but he was even more worried about the Yondaime's seal.

Seal masters were few in the Elemental Nations due to the difficulty in mastering seals and the fact that many shinobi much preferred the flashier arts of ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu.

The top seal master of Konoha was Jiraiya but he also doubled as Konoha's spymaster, which meant a lot of his work entailed travelling around the Elemental Nations. Hiruzen had sent a message to him but it did take time to travel back to Konoha.

The only other person he could think of who came close to Jiraiya's expertise was Danzo and he wouldn't let him get close to Naruto.

An ANBU officer appeared before him. "Hiashi-sama has agreed to take time to examine Uzumaki. He is on his way now."

"Dismissed, Rat." Of course, the integrity of the seal was one thing, Naruto's new... accessories we're something else.

Hiruzen stopped pacing and walked to Naruto's bedside. The boy was finally waking up.

"Old man? What am I doing here?" His voice was hoarse. Well, he had been unconscious for three days while the mildly diluted bijuu chakra wrought changes on his body. The medic-nin had not been able to touch him until that morning so they wouldn't be corrupted by the Kyuubi's chakra.

Hiruzen gave an hand signal and one of the ANBU in the room disappeared. "You're in the Konoha Hospital. Let's just say you had... a training accident," Hiruzen said. 'Yeah, like training accident does this any justice.'

The ANBU returned with a cup of water. Hiruzen took it and he promptly and silently disappeared. "Here, have a drink. You need it," Hiruzen gave Naruto the cup.

Naruto sat up and drank everything. He handed the cup back to Hiruzen. That was when he noticed. "Aaahhh!! Why do I have a tail? What happened to me? Answer me, Old Man!"

"Ah yes, those," Hiruzen nodded. "We're still trying to figure that out."

It seemed the Kyuubi chakra had withdrawn but it had left Naruto with a new look. He now had a burnt orange foxy tail and his ears had become fox ears. There was no doubt that those weren't the only changes.

"Hiashi-sama is here," an ANBU said.

"Bring him in," Hiruzen responded.

Hiashi came in. Other than a slight rise of an eyebrow when he saw Naruto, his face was a calm, collected mask.

"You sent for me, Hokage-sama," he said. Although he didn't show it, Hiruzen could tell he was irritated at being called like that.

"Yes, I did, Hiashi," Hiruzen responded firmly. Arrogant pride was what had brought doom to the Uchiha. "I need you to examine Naruto's chakra. See if you can find any anomalies."

Hiashi frowned. "Any Hyuuga could do this," he said.

"I sent for you specifically because I trust that you can keep things to yourself," Hiruzen said. 'Also, I'm the fucking Hokage so you get to do as I say.'

"Very well." The veins on Hiashi's temples bulged as he activated his Byakugan. "Interesting... "

"What do you see?"

"Well, in his chakra pathways, which are large for a boy his age, there's a secondary flow of chakra. From what I can see, it's probably bijuu chakra, slightly diluted with his own chakra."

Hiruzen frowned worriedly.

"In fact, the two chakra streams are almost independent of each other except at the tenketsu and his chakra source. The bijuu chakra doesn't seem to be doing any harm to his body. I'd say that's because his boy has adapted to it. There's evidence that there was more bijuu chakra but it has been reduced lately. More is being produced but in small amounts so it'd take a while."

Hiashi deactivated his all-seeing eyes. "If I were to guess, I'd say his new look comes from the use of the bijuu chakra. Is it a Bloodline Limit?" he asked curiously.

"No idea, yet. The medic-nin were only able to start testing today," Hiruzen answered.

"So what's happening to me? What's a Blood line Limit? What's a bijuu? Is this permanent?" Naruto, who had kept quiet during Hiashi's analysis, let loose with a flurry of questions.

"I'll explain later, Naruto," Hiruzen told the boy. He looked to Hiashi. "I trust you'll keep quiet about this until I find out everything about this phenomenon and report it to the council."

"I will."

"Good. I might need you later. For now, you are dismissed," the Hokage said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the Hyuuga clan head bowed and left the room.

"Naruto, the answers to all your questions are not clear yet. But I'll explain all I can. We don't know what exactly is happening to you, which means they may or may not be permanent. A Blood line Limit is a special ability that is passed down in from parent to child. A bijuu... hmmm, well, I'd tell you now but I don't quite think you're ready so I promise to tell you about that when you become a genin?"

"Why not now?" Naruto pouted.

"Like I said, you're not ready," Hiruzen answered. "Any other questions? "

"No. I'm hungry, " Naruto said. "Can I get some ramen?"

"Yes. I'll have it delivered to you," Hiruzen answered.

"You're the best, Old Man," the blonde boy cheered.

-o-o-o-

Hiruzen sat behind his desk going through paperwork. A knock came at the door and he called, "Come in."

The door opened and in stepped two men he'd been expecting. Kimaru Hoshima, Head Medic-nin of Konoha and Jiraiya, Konoha's Toad Sage.

"Ah, I take it the two of you have the final results of Naruto's evaluation," he said, puffing on his pipe.

"Yes, sensei/Hokage-sama," they said.

"You start first, Kimaru-san," Hiruzen ordered.

Kimaru bowed. "Hai, Hokage-sama," he said. "Well, we've confirmed that his new look is a Bloodline Limit and can be transferred to his children. His tail moves independently most times but when he wants to he can control it's movement. His senses are now more highly developed than the average person. His ears are now more sensitive to sound and his eyes see in higher clarity. I can say for certain that his sense of smell rivals that of an Inuzuka.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. That was impressive.

"Apart from that, he has a higher healing factor and can recover from cuts in seconds. He has immunity to most of the poisons we tested of him. I'm certain he has built up an immunity to the ones that worked.

"Aside from slightly faster reflexes and higher stamina, that is the conclusion of his new abilities."

Hiruzen's lip quirked up slightly into a smile. "Very well. Soon, I will make Naruto's new Bloodline Limit official. I want you to take his hospital reports off public record and give it the same treatment you would any other Bloodline Limit owner's reports."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I'll do just that," Kimura said.

"You may leave," Hiruzen said. Kimura bowed and left. Hiruzen then dismissed the ANBU in the room and activated privacy seals.

"Well, what do you think, Jiraiya?"

"It's an impressive Bloodline Limit but under what clan are we going to assign it to. Uzumaki, or Namikaze?"

"If things are as I suspect... "Hiruzen muttered under his breath. "Never mind about that. Give me your report."

"Okay, sensei. First, I never thought I'd ever say this, but apparently, Minato made a mistake in his sealwork," Jiraiya said.

"Hmmm, do tell."

"From what I saw, it seems his hand shook slightly during the application of the seal and one element of it was completely ruined."

Hiruzen's eyes widened. That... That could have been disastrous. Sealing was a precise art. The slightest mistake could render the seal a dud or cause it to blow up in your face. This was one of the reasons why few people studied sealing.

But making a mistake when creating an explosive tag was one thing, making a mistake while sealing a bijuu, while sealing the Nine-Tailed Fox, the strongest of the bijuu, was quite another thing. They we're extremely lucky Konoha, and probably half of the Land of Fire, hadn't been wiped off the map.

"Sensei," Jiraiya said, snapping Hiruzen out of his musings. "Why didn't you call me to check on Naruto's seal?"

"Minato applied the seal. When had we ever doubted Minato's work?" Hiruzen said.

Jiraiya nodded. He understood. Minato had surpassed even his wife in the sealing arts.

"Besides, when you saw the seal key with Gerotora... "

When Jiraiya had gotten word from Mount Myouboku and seen Naruto's seal key with Gerotora, he had assumed the seal worked just as it was intended to.

"Go on," Hiruzen beckoned to Jiraiya to continue his report.

"Well, the seal works just as it was meant to. It's keeping the fox out, but only temporarily. The fox's chakra is leaking out into Naruto. I'm even surprised he hasn't died from it. It's mixing with is own chakra, creating a secondary store of bijuu chakra tempered with his chakra. In a normal Eight Trigrams Seal, the bijuu chakra enters the jinchuuriki's body at a cost; it weakens it.

"Minato's Accidental Seal- we should totally call it that- bypasses that entirely and feeds the chakra into Naruto directly without weakening it."

"That is truly amazing," Hiruzen said, shaking his head in wonder.

"The kid's lucky. For bijuu chakra to continually flow through his body like that from when he was born. I didn't think even an Uzumaki could survive that. Probably had something to do with his mum being the former jinchuuriki. I think if he came in contact with bijuu chakra now, it wouldn't hurt him.

"But that's the positive effect. If this continues, Naruto might become the Kyuubi."

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen said in alarm.

"The seal takes the bijuu chakra without any of Kyuubi's influence. The Kyuubi is slowly being extinguished, his chakra diminishing. But it's mind remains as strong as ever. Soon all of Kyuubi's chakra will be taken and then the seal would probably become a dud, having fulfilled it's original purpose of keeping away the Kyuubi's chakra away. I'm not certain that will happen but in the case it does, the Kyuubi's mind will be free. It's going to reunite with the strongest concentration of it's chakra which would at that moment be Naruto. Well, it's a bijuu for a reason. Naruto's mind can't stand up to it's mind and would probably be absorbed. His body would explode and he would effectively become the Kyuubi again. Mind, all this is conjecture but the risks outweigh the rewards."

"Have you rectified this?" Hiruzen enquired.

"Did it right there. It's in effect an Eight Trigrams Seal now," Jiraiya said. "The leaked out Kyuubi chakra is still with him until he uses it. He might not be able to use a Jinchuuriki cloak until it runs out but that is good."

"Well, it's certainly been interesting. Do you think the altered chakra already in him can give him more Bloodline Limits."

"It's a possibility," Jiraiya said. "What are you going to tell the council?"

"I say the Bloodline Limit was an intended effect of Minato's seal. Kami knows that would be the best explanation for this," Hiruzen said, leaning back and blowing smoke rings out of his pipe. "If I say it was unintended, they'd probably interpret it as the seal being insecure even if I say it has been rectified."

"Well, call me when you call for the council meeting," Jiraiya said. His face widened into a lecherous grin. "I've missed this village. All those beautiful ladies. See you later." That said, he leaped out the window.

-o-o-o-

The Hokage settled in his seat at the head of the council meeting. His lips curled in slight, almost unnoticable, distaste at the civilian council. However, it was better to settle this once and for all rather than having two separate meetings for both shinobi and civilian sides.

"I called this meeting to address the flux of demonic chakra recently. I'm sure everyone felt it," Hiruzen started.

"Felt it?!" Tsume Inuzuka barked. "Some of my younger clan members nearly crapped themselves. Of course we all felt it."

Hiruzen resisted the urge to sigh. Inuzuka. They never had any sense of formality. This was a council meeting.

"I think we can all agree that the bijuu chakra was definitely noticeable," Shikaku Nara said. "What has not been determined is what has been done about it." The lazy Nara clan head shot a discreet look at the Hokage.

Of course, as Jounin Commander, Shikaku would have wanted to be informed of any threat to the village, even bijuu-related ones. Shikaku was lazy but he would do anything to protect the village. Even if it entailed killing an eight-year old to prevent a demon from wrecking said village.

"We need to know what has been done about the de- boy," a civilian merchant stated. Hiruzen did not miss the near-slip and his eyes narrowed. "He is a danger to the village."

Fat and loud. Not very important, too. Owned a few trading companies. Wouldn't be missed much. But... he was the Hokage. He couldn't go around killing every civilian that annoyed him.

"If we kill the damned fox, we'll be finishing the Yondaime's job," the civilian finished.

Forget being the Hokage. There was going to be an off-the-books in-village ANBU assassination this week. And an accidental death of a member of the civilian council. ' _How tragic_ ,' Hiruzen thought dryly. He was the Hokage and he issued a law that was punishable by death. Were those civilians so dense?

"There will be no need to kill anyone," Hiruzen said with a hint of steel in his voice. '...except for you, but no one will know that was a kill, will they?' "The matter is actually very simple. The seal the Yondaime placed on Naruto was not an ordinary seal."

Hiruzen paused for a few seconds to let this sink in. Oh, how he loved theatrics.

"Well, what does this seal do?" Danzo Shimura said impatiently.

"In a not unusual flash of brilliance, the Fourth created a new seal from scratch that passively absorbed the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto, all while making the boy totally safe from it's influence and corruption. When Naruto tried to access this chakra, it gave him a completely new Bloodline Limit."

Hiruzen stopped. One... Two... Three... Bingo.

"That's impossible...!" "What kind of Blood line..." "What about the bijuu chakra...?" The council, especially the civilian side, dissolved into chaos. Well, not really chaos but as close as it could be to that.

Danzo, Shikaku, Hiashi and Aburame Shibi were all staring at him but he could guess they were doing it for different reasons.

He took a puff on his pipe and prevented a smug grin from spreading across his face. Some of it had been utter bullshit but it worked.

He waited for a few more seconds and then calmed the rabble with a blast of forceful chakra. No Killing Intent, though. There were civilians and he didn't want them to die of heart attacks. A good Kage doesn't kill his subjects. At least, not in public.

"What exactly does this new Blood line Limit entail?" Hiashi Hyuuga asked.

"It grants him advanced regeneration and his senses are now very powerful. His chakra is now at least jounin-level and it would only continue to grow. The rest can be considered clan secrets."

"But the boy doesn't have a clan..." Danzo pounced on that.

Well, that wasn't technically true. The Uzumaki were a nearly extinct clan but they weren't a Konoha clan. Naruto could choose to establish the clan in Konoha, though.

"When he is old enough, he could establish a clan and be head. But I have assumed guardianship to protect his Bloodline Limit from other villages," Hiruzen explained. It was mostly to protect it from Danzo but that couldn't be said.

"Can the seal be replicated?" Danzo, of course. Hiruzen had expected that.

"No. I'll let Jiraiya explain," Hiruzen said. That was a lie. Jiraiya could replicate it but no one except an Uzumaki could survive it. Naruto wasn't the only confirmed Uzumaki and Danzo had a wide reach.

Jiraiya stepped forward from where he had stood behind him.

-o-o-o-

As the council meeting ended, Hiruzen signaled Tsume Inuzuka to wait.

When the room cleared out she stepped up to him. "Hokage-sama?"

"I need your help, Tsume," he said.

"What can I do for you, Hokage-sama?" she asked.

"Naruto is going to need help with his new heightened senses. Who better than the Inuzuka clan to help him?" Hiruzen said.

"The clan is going to complain about this," Tsume said.

"I think you misunderstood. I'm not asking you to teach him your clan techniques. Just teach him to handle his new senses. It shouldn't take more than a month or at most, a year."

"I'll do it, Hokage-sama," she said.

"Good."

-o-o-o-

 **And, cut. I was shocked beyond measure to see only two reviews. I mean, last chapter wasn't that bad, was it?**

 **Naruto's character is going to be a bit OOC but you'll see my justification for that next chapter. Please point out any mistakes. Even with two authors, this can't be perfect, as much as I insist to ficmac it is.**

 **RR, people.**


End file.
